Brazil passes World Cup 2014 baton to Ronaldo
Brazilian football icon Ronaldo has been drafted in to head the country's organisation of the 2014 World Cup, press reports said on Tuesday.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: November 30, 2011 09:59 AM IST
Brazilian football icon Ronaldo has been drafted in to head the country's organisation of the 2014 World Cup, press reports said on Tuesday.
Ronaldo, a former two-time Ballon d'Or winner, brought an end to his illustrious career in June 2011.
Now the 34-year-old, whose full name is Ronaldo Nazario de Lima, has accepted an invitation by Brazil Football Confederation (CBF) president Ricardo Teixeira, to become head of the 2014 World Cup organising committee.
Ronaldo, who played for PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and AC Milan in Europe and Cruzeiro and Corinthians in Brazil, is set to meet Teixeira Wednesday to finalise the details of his new role.
According to reports his appointment will be announced officially on Thursday.
In doing so, Ronaldo will follow in the footsteps of fellow football stars Michel Platini of France and Germany's Franz Beckenbauer, who headed up the organisation of the 1998 and 2006 World Cups respectively.
During his career Ronaldo notably won two World Cup trophies, in 1994 and 2002, and was twice voted the Ballon d'Or winner in 1997 and 2002.